Gauri Ma (1857 – March 1, 1938), born Mridani,[1] was a prominent Indian disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, companion of Sri Sarada Devi and founder of Kolkata's Saradeswari Ashram.[2]
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Gauri Ma was born in Sibpur, Howrah, India and was called Mridani or Rudrani. Mridani's father was Parvaticharan Chattopadhyaya and her mother, Giribala Devi. Her mother Giribala had many spiritual qualities, too. Of these, perhaps her greatest virtue was to be found in her dedicated service to the poor, the miserable, the afflicted, and the dependent. She was also well educated. Not only did she know her mother tongue, Bengali, and Sanskrit very well but she knew some English and Persian. She was a good poet. Two collections of her poems entitled Nama Saar and Vairagya Sangeet Mala had been published.[3] Even as a child she possessed a strong tendency toward Hindu spirituality. By her thirteenth year, Gauri Ma had developed a distaste for marriage, telling her mother, “I shall marry only that bridegroom who is immortal,” meaning she wished to marry Krishna and no other.[4] When Gauri Ma was young she had received from a nun a stone image of Sri Krishna. The nun told her, “This image of God is my all in all and is alive with Divine energy. He has fallen in love with you, so I am handing him over to you. My child, worship him. It will do good to you.” [5] Gauri Ma accepted the gift and took the image of Sri Krishna as her husband. For the rest of her life she carried the stone image with her and served him lovingly.Gauri Ma received initiation from Sri Ramakrishna at an early age in Ghola.[6] When Gauri Ma's marriage was arranged, she refused to marry and with her mother's help she left the house to escape getting married. She spent her time in practising austerities and in worshipping her chosen deity.
In 1875 Gauri Ma left with relatives and neighbors to go on pilgrimage to Gangasagar. On the third day of her stay, she disappeared into a crowd of pilgrims, disguising herself as a nun to evade recognition. She began traveling by train and by foot to holy sites and monasteries throughout India. During her years of pilgrimage Gauri Ma practiced severe austerities such as fasting, observing silence, and long hours of meditation. She also spent a great deal of time studying the Hindu scriptures.[7] For nearly three years Gauri Ma practiced austerity and went on pilgrimages in that part of the country. She spent time at many famous places of pilgrimage: Devaprayag, Jwalamukhi, Amarnath, Yamunotri, and Gangotri. She went to Brindavan and then through Rajasthan to Saurastra and visited holy places of Hindus like Pushkar, Prabhas, Sudampuri, and finally Dwarka. She finally returned to Vrindavan from where she was finally taken back to Calcutta by one of her relatives. In the course of this pilgrimage Gauri Ma met Radharaman Bose, the father of Balaram Bose, one of the foremost disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. After coming back to Calcutta and meeting her mother she went to other holy places like Puri, Remuna, Sakshigopal, Bhuvaneshwar, Navadweep and Nadia. She then went to Benaras and met Trailanga Swami.
Gauri Ma first met Sri Ramakrishna through Balaram Bose. When she met Sri Ramakrishna, Gauri Ma was only twenty five years old. However it was also believed by her that she was initiated by Sri Ramakrishna in her childhood when she was only ten years old, through mysterious circumstance. Gauri Ma lived as a companion to Sarada Devi, the wife of Sri Ramakrishna, whenever she was at Dakshineswar. Gauri Ma also sometimes cooked for her Guru Ramakrishna, and sang to him. Ramakrishna had a very high opinion of her, declaring, “Gauri is a perfect soul – a gopi of Vrindavan.” [8]
Ramakrishna encouraged Gauri Ma to settle down from her life of pilgrimage and devote herself to working for the betterment of women in India. The women of India’s plight was great, and Ramakrishna wished her to work to improve their education and development, both intellectually and spiritually. Gauri Ma protested, that she had neither the proper training nor education for such a feat. Ramakrishna replied, “I am pouring the water. You knead the clay. .” [9]
Swami Vivekananda echoed Ramakrishna’s praise for Gauri Ma stating, “Where is Gauri Ma? We want a thousand such mothers with that noble stirring spirit.” [10]
Gauri Ma was gently reminded by Sarada Devi, “The Master (Ramakrishna) said that your life was meant for serving women – the living goddess.” [11]
Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi once said. "A great soul is always a rarity, having hardly any parallel. Gaurdasi is one such soul."
At the time of Sri Ramakrishna's demise, Gauri Ma was in Brindavan. She later met the holy mother Saradi Devi in Brindavan. She then went to a pilrimage in the Himalayas. She once again travelled extensively throughout India and went to Rameshwaram and Kanyakumari Several years later, after she had begun her work serving women in accordance with the teachings and instructions of Sri Ramakrishna, Gauri Ma went on a second tour of the South. On this second visit, she went to Sholapur as a guest of Sri Haripada and Srimati Indumati Mitra, disciples of Swami Vivekananda. From there she went to Pandharpur, Poona, Belgaum, and Bombay. At Poona she visited a girls' high school and a home for widows that had been founded by Professor Karve, where she had discussions with Professor Karve about the lives of widows in India. During the same trip Gauri Ma met and had several discussions with the renowned and highly respected Lady Ramabai Ranade. She also met the famous political leader Lokmanya Tilak and had several discussions with him.[12]
When she took the monastic vow of renunciation or "Sannyas" and became a nun, she came to be known as Gourivrata Puri. Sarada Devi affectionately called her Gaur Dasi.
In 1895, the Saradeswari Ashram was started by Gauri Ma on the banks of the Ganges in Barrackpore. Residence, board and instruction were free to unmarried, married and widowed women. Village girls also came in the afternoon. Saradeshwari Ashram had a modest and humble beginning. But gradually, with the help and encouragement of the local people and devotees from Calcutta, it began to expand in every possible way and had about twenty five students.Several of Sri Ramakrishna's dearest disciples – Vivekananda, Brahmananda, and Shivananda, came to visit the ashram. After returning from his first visit to America, Swami Vivekanada visited the ashram and told Gauri Ma, “I have talked to the western people about you, and shall take you there and show them what the type of women India can produce.” [13]
In 1911, the Ashram moved to Kolkata. Sarada Devi often visited the ashram, serving as an inspiration to those who were living there. Gradually, the number of residents of Saradeshwari Ashram increased to twenty-five, the number of students to seventy. In addition to receiving the usual education. students were taught both Sanskrit and English. For thirteen years, the ashram was located in rented houses, moving four times to accommodate its growing population. After raising funds, in 1924 a three-story permanent ashram was constructed at its present location.[14] A large amount was donated for this purpose by Maharani Sarojbala Devi of Gauripur, Assam, who was a devotee of the holy mother Sri Sarada Devi. One of the regular donors to the cause of the school was Sarat Chandra Bose, the brother of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. She also met Gandhiji and Chittaranjan Das.
Since 1895 the ashram as a convent has made it possible for many women to lead dedicated spiritual lives. Over two hundred nuns presently live at three centers, the headquarters at 26 Gauri Mata Sarani, Calcutta, India, 70004, and branch centers at Navadwip and Giridih. Each center has a free girls' school, boarding for students, and accommodations for women, whether as guests or women in need. Classes are mostly taken by the sannyasinis and brahmacharinis. The administration of the institution is entirely in the hands of women. At the base is the Matrisangha, comprising the sannyasinis of the order, and at the apex are the trustees, appointed under the trust established by the revered Gauri Mata. The trustees are assisted by an executive committee and an advisory board, the membership of which is held by men and women.[15]
Education, to Gauri Ma, was a national duty. She taught that if the training of women is neglected, the whole nation suffers. A mother’s intelligence, love and insight nurture the child. The Saradeswari Ashram, therefore, pursued programs of education that strived for the regeneration of womankind.
Gauri Ma carefully selected teachers for the ashram who lived ideal lives of simplicity and purity, of high thinking, and who dedicated themselves to the cause of women. The Saradeswari Ashram had four purposes: 1. To spread education among women according to the ideas of Hinduism and society; 2. To organize women to be workers for the Ashram; 3. To give shelter to girls and widows in indigent circumstances but belonging to respectable families; 4. To help women in their endeavor to live decent and virtuous lives.[16]
Being devoted to her cause and yet unattached, her view point on her work was, "Name and fame are like filth. Do your work with a detached attitude....When you go to serve others, if you find lurking in the corner of your heart any desire for praise or prestige, it is like committing suicide in your spiritual life." [17] She detested name and fame and on one occasion after her school building was established she took apart the marble inscription because it contained her name in small letters. Several notable incidents are ascribed to her, one of them being trying to save a drowning woman in the Ganges while bathing, even when she did not know swimming herself. She also rescued a woman from being harassed and beaten by her in laws with the help of the local police.
In 1936 the birth centenary of Sri Ramakrishna was celebrated on a grand scale worldwide. Gauri Ma herself celebrated this great festival for twenty-five days. On this occasion she gave a beautiful and appropriate message, which was broadcast over All India Radio. On 28 February 28, 1938, the day of Shivaratri, Gauri-Ma started consciously preparing for death and passed away the following day.[18]